Kintore and District Community Council has submitted a representation to Aberdeenshire Council, calling on the council to reject moves to remove road improvement conditions for a proposed development at Thainstone. Thainstone is within the community council’s area.

On Friday 28 September, a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Shortly after, a deadly tsunami tore through the region, flattening everything in its path and turning thousands of homes to rubble.

At the Kintore and District Community Council meeting this week Aberdeenshire councillors told the meeting that the council was consulting on a new waste strategy that could see considerable changes to the kerbside collections.

The safety of children going to and from Kintore Primary School has been an issue that has had some considerable priority at the last two Kintore and District Community Council meetings. See the post “Concerns for the safety of our children”.

At the community council meeting this week, those present heard from police that a fire engine, on the way to a fire, had been obstructed by parked cars in Allendale Gardens which, we were told, had not left sufficient room for emergency vehicle access.

Residents in the Balbithan area of Kintore have had to throw in the towel on their bid to improve their slow broadband. Encouraged by BT and Aberdeenshire Council they made an application for a Community Fibre Partnership which would co-fund the provision of fibre connections to the premises.

Since the Scottish Government Reporter overturned the decision of Aberdeenshire Council’s Garioch Area Committee to refuse the application to expand the Thainstone Business Park up Thainstone Hill, details of landscaping and the new Scotbeef slaughterhouse have been put forward.

Following the approval, on appeal, of the Thainstone Business Park extension, further details, including landscaping proposals, have now been submitted for the site, marked red in the photograph below.

Kintore Angling Club has just signed a lease to take over the Common Good Ground waters that belong to the people of Kintore. It means the club can now offer, Salmon, Sea Trout and Brown Trout fishing, right on your doorstep.

Action Kintore, Kintore’s community charity, has unveiled a new look as it starts initial work on a project aimed at bringing the Royal Burgh of Kintore’s iconic 18th century Town House back into community use.

At its meeting this week, Kintore and District Community Council presented cheques to representatives of the Scouts and Boys Brigade to thank them for their work in helping to organise the Kintore Fireworks Display in November.

The Save Bennachie Campaign is urging people to attend the forthcoming Public Consultation Sessions for the A96 dualling. They say that this is a the first key opportunity to have a say on the future of Bennachie.

Actress Penelope Keith has visited scores of rural communities in her ‘Hidden Villages’ series for Channel 4. Now she is taking on her biggest challenge yet – to scour the length and breadth of Britain to crown one village ‘Village of the Year 2017’.

Stagecoach is making changes to its timetables that are planned for introduction on May 1, 2017. The consultation closes on March 10 – so if you wish to make comment please respond quickly. Read More...

If, like us – you are more than 1200 metres from a fibre connection and are struggling with a connection that drops as low as 1.5 MB, when people just a mile or so away are enjoying up to 50 MB – then you may look to community fibre partnerships as a potential solution to bring our broadband into the 21st century.

With the Scottish Government committed to providing 95% access to “superfast” (24-30 MB) broadband in the new year, many Kintore households who find themselves more than 1,200 metres from the exchange are still stuck with broadband well below the recommended household minimum of 10MB.

As the Scottish Government’s 2017 target looms for 95% of households to have access to superfast broadband, a survey in the Aberdeenshire town of Kintore suggests the digital divide is widening. Read More...

The Scottish Government has set a target for 95% of the population to have access to superfast broadband by 2017. The recent experience, where ‘long lines’ are being classified as upgraded, even though they receive less than half the government target of 10MB, makes us keen to understand the state of broadband services in and around Kintore.

Aberdeenshire Council say that due to BT Works to be carried out by BT Openreach/A Plant Lux it will be necessary in the interests of public safety to close the road from Broomhill Roundabout into Kintore for one night. Read More...

Two years ago the Kintore exchange was upgraded to provide ‘superfast’ fibre broadband. Those of us who were struggling with slow speeds and throughput failures rejoiced at the thought of faster, more reliable broadband.

Kintore Town House, which has taken pride of place in the centre of Kintore since the 18th century, is a fitting centrepiece for a town that received its first charter as a Royal Burgh in the 12th century.

The Kintore East consortium has now submitted its planning application covering the infrastructure required for the development. This application includes the proposed access road from School Road across the Tuach Burn and on to the Kintore East development.

A planning application is imminent for the infrastructure to support the Kintore East development. This will include the proposed bridge over the Tuach Burn and the road across the fields below Tuach Hill.

At the end of the 2016 fishing season, Aberdeenshire Council are going up the leases on the salmon and trout fishings on the River Don at Kintore. Kintore Angling Club would like to take over the lease and retain them for the people of Kintore.

Aberdeenshire Council has produced a briefing paper to try to clear up confusion over the status of the recent planning application for Kintore East development, particularly in relation to the proposed access from School Road by the Tuach Burn.

Following the severe floods of January 2016, representatives from the Aberdeenshire Flood Team, SEPA, Garioch Flood Support, Inverurie Round Table and community councils from the area are staging a Flood Protection Product Roadshow. Read More...

Continuing from the last edition of KK, there is a Flood Recovery plan published by the council and to contribute to that the Community Council were asked to submit our top three priorities for flood prevention in Kintore.

Network Rail are sending letters to residents close to the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line explaining preliminary site investigation works for the £170 million upgrade of the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line. These works will also facilitate the re-opening of a rail station in Kintore, expected in 2019.

Aberdeenshire Council has issued the following bulletin with information, contacts, support and advice for those affected by the flooding in Garioch. Also at the bottom of the bulletin we’ve added and offer of help from Garioch Community Kitchen. Read More...

Following the devastating flooding in Kintore last month, Aberdeenshire Council have asked Kintore and District Community Council to identify what it believes are the three highest flood prevention priorities in the town.

Aberdeenshire Council has issued the following bulletin with information, contacts, support and advice for those affected by the flooding in Garioch. Also at the bottom of the bulletin we’ve added and offer of help from Garioch Community Kitchen. Read More...

While going round to check on houses that were flooded a member of the team from Kintore and District Community Council received these photographs of the flooding last week in Kingsfield Road, Kintore.

You may have heard enough about flooding. In which case, switch to another story now. But, I’m grateful to Abby Miller for who has found a book on Google that talks about even more horrendous floods in this part of Scotland in 1829.

Over the past ten days, during the flood emergency, we have been posting useful information on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Kintore/. But some of that information has now dropped off the main page with the volume of posts.

As were were recovering from any excesses on Hogmanay or New Year’s Day, our feeling of bonhomie was interrupted by a looming crisis. It rapidly became clear that Kintore was about to face a huge challenge.

We’re disappointed to hear of a spate of vandalism aimed at bird boxes and bat boxes that had been destroyed in Gauchhill Woods. What makes this particularly shocking is that these boxes were made by children at Kintore Primary School.

An application has been submitted to Aberdeenshire Council for a change of use for one of the units at the new retail development at Midmill, Kintore. The application is for a change of use from a food take away to a café-wine bar. Read More...

Walking Football and ‘Learn to Cook’ sessions for the over 60s. Every Friday from August 21 to October 9 from 12 noon to 2pm at the Garioch Community Kitchen, Wyness Hall, Jackson Street, Inverurie AB51 3QB.

A public inquiry into land acquisition for schools, including the new Kintore Primary School, will take place on Wednesday, April 15 in the Garioch Community Centre, Inverurie, starting at 10am. Read More...

What do you want to see in the Kintore of the future? Well, you have an opportunity to influence future planning and talk about what it would take to make Kintore a better place in which to live, to work and to enjoy yourself. Read More...

These days, so much of what we do can be done more efficiently online. But are are computers and the internet still a closed book for you or someone you know? If so, then this may be an opportunity to get online. Read More...

A public exhibition of the proposals to redevelop part of the former Inverurie paper mill site at Porth Elphinstone will now be held on Tuesday, December 16 in the Acorn Centre, West High Street, Inverurie. Read More...

Aberdeenshire Council has expressed disappointment that as a result of the various objections lodged by landowners, the Scottish Government is seeking to hold a Public Local Inquiry (PLI) into the council’s proposed compulsory purchase of a site for the new Kintore Primary school. Read More...

Kintore School Parent Council are running their annual Christmas Post Service at 25p per card for addresses within walking distance of the centre of Kintore. The Last Day For Posting Monday 15th December at 12 noon.

Kintore and District Community Council has welcomed today’s decision of the Infrastructure Services Committee of Aberdeenshire Council to include the Gateway Kintore development in the new Local Development plan.

Kintore United F.C 2005 age group are currently looking for players to add to our existing squad. Kintore United’s aim is to promote youth football to the children of Kintore and all surrounding areas. Read More...

'The Kintore Summer Festival will take place on Saturday 23rd May 2015 and due to the success of our new location last year we will be holding this festival at the school playing fields and school again.

Aberdeenshire Council planners are recommending Aberdeenshire Councillors grant the application for planning permission in principle for 600 houses, a neighbourhood centre and infrastructure for Kintore East. Read More...

A survey conducted in Kintore reveals widespread dissatisfaction with broadband services in the town. While some of those who are able to get fibre broadband enjoy speeds over 65MB, a significant number on conventional wired broadband report their service appears to be deteriorating.

Following hard on the heels of the news about Sainsbury’s Local opening a convenience store at Midmill comes news of a second “mini supermarket” planned for a site about a tenth of a mile along School Road. Read More...

On the eve of Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure services committee meeting that will decide if Gateway Kintore should be included in the new local plan, Brian Johnstone, chairman of Kintore and District Community Council has urged councillors to listen to the community.

A planning application has been submitted for the demolition of existing buildings at Midmill and the development of four retail or commercial units and a hot-food takeaway unit at Midmill in Kintore. Read More...

At today’s Aberdeenshire Council meeting councillors referred the Gateway Kintore development to the Infrastructure Services Committee with a view to including it in the new Local Development Plan which will come into force in 2016.

The Kintore Summer Festival will take place on Saturday, May 31 at a new venue. After many years based in The Square in the centre of Kintore, the organisers have moved this year’s festival to Kintore School and the playing field.

Lobbying regarding a proposal to cut the bus service connecting Kintore to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary has been successful. The proposals would have meant taking two buses to get to the hospital for work, appointments or visits.

It is good to hear that attentions are turning to finding a new use to give a new lease of life to Kintore Town House. It is a magnificent and historic building that has been the jewel in the crown at the centre of our Royal Burgh of Kintore since 1747.

Work for the reopening of the Kintore rail station is not likely to start until 2016. Originally in the NESTRANS schedule to reopen in 2009, our local councillors have been trying to get a date from the Scottish Transport Minister.

This is proving to be one of the wettest periods for years with a series of rainstorms sweeping the country and it has resulted in three flooding closures of the B977 Kintore to Hatton of Fintray road in the past month.

Kintore and District Community Council chair Brian Johnstone has submitted the community council’s response to the Main Issues Report consultation, which ends tomorrow (February 1, 2014). In it, the community council chair argues that the Gateway Kintore site should be included in the Aberdeenshire Council Local Development Plan 2016.

This week we have received the welcome news that many in Kintore has been waiting for. After years of problems with slow downloads and services like BBC iPlayer being almost impossible to use at peak times, Kintore is due to get high-speed fibre broadband this summer.

Come and join the Big Book Bash on November 30, to celebrate Book Week Scotland. The “Book Week Scotland Drop-In Quiz - True or False!” takes place 2-5pm at The Peerie Pantry, 12 Northern Road, Kintore

Responding to a question by Councillor Fergus Hood at last night’s Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan meeting in Kintore School, a council official said that the 1,000-name Gateway Kintore petition would not count as a representation in the consultation for the 2016 plan.

The Kintore Fundraising Team , whose primary role in the village is the installation and maintenance of the Christmas lights and the annual switch on in the square , have undertaken several successful fundraising activities which resulted in them having surplus funds which they decided to offer to community groups in Kintore. Read More...

On Tuesday you will be asked to approve a development that will result in the building of up to 1,200 new homes in Kintore. This will be a massive expansion of Kintore which already has a population of 4,447.

You will probably recall that, back in February, a petition with more than 1,000 signatures was handed over to our Kintore councillors – Nan Cullinane, Martin Ford and Fergus Hood. The petition called on Aberdeenshire Council to bring forward the Gateway Kintore development for consideration by councillors.

Mary McMurtrie, of Balbithan House in Kintore, was described as Britain’s oldest working artist. When she died in 2003, aged 101, she had just completed proof reading her latest book of illustrations. She specialised in painting flowers and plants.

In the last month, Kintore’s broadband infrastructure has been creaking under the strain of the growing number of households and businesses in Kintore. Broadband outages and slow speeds seem to be affecting a large proportion of the population.

A petition carrying the names of more than a thousand people has been handed over to local councillors urging Aberdeenshire Council to approve a plan that would bring new facilities for the expanding town of Kintore.

Strong public support has encouraged developers of the proposed Gateway Kintore in Kintore, Aberdeenshire, to produce a master plan as a means of taking the development to Aberdeenshire Council for a decision.

Kirkwood Homes Investments held a public consultation in Kintore Public Hall yesterday, to show their plans for expansion of the commercial use on the former paper mill site north of Kintore. The site concerned is bounded on the east by the River Don and on the west by the Aberdeen to Inverness railway line. Read More...

Kirkwood Homes Investments are holding a public consultation for their planned expansion of the commercial park at the former Inverurie paper mill site on August 30 in Kintore Public Hall 6pm to 9pm. Read More...

An exhibition showing early etchings by a Kintore-based artist who, during her lifetime, was recognised as Britain’s oldest working artist, will take place at Balbithan House on selected days from Sunday, July 29 to Sunday, August 19. Read More...

The Badentoy Trust and AJC Homes have submitted a planning application to Aberdeenshire council for a development of 11 houses (four of which would be affordable homes) at Gauch-hill Road in Kintore. Read More...

Aberdeenshire Council is recommending approval for a planning application proposing up to 150 new homes in a residential development at Midmill in Kintore. The development comes at a time when the community council is campaigning for more facilities, including Gateway Kintore, before more houses are built in the town.

Demand for the facilities proposed by Gateway Kintore continues to grow with signatures topping 400 in less than a fortnight since the petition was launched. These are some of the latest comments on the proposal. Read More...

We asked the three Kintore councillors (prior to the May 3 election) for comments about facilities in Kintore. In doing so we recognise that councillors might find it difficult to comment specifically about Gateway KIntore. Read More...

Kintore is to get a faster broadband service by summer 2012. BT has made the announcement that Kintore will be among 47 communities in Scotland to receive the new service that promises speeds up to 20Mbps.

The proposed National Grid pipeline for the carbon capture and storage project will not now go ahead following a decision by the Department of Energy and Climate Change not to go ahead with the construction. Read More...

As the autumn chill takes over from last week’s Indian summer, more people are turning to the internet for their evening entertainment and that, in turn, means that Kintore’s broadband infrastructure comes under greater strain.

The Commercial Manager of Stagecoach Bluebird, Wiliiam Mainus, will be attending the Kintore and District Community Council meeting on September 27. So if you have any questions about the bus services to and from Kintore, this is your opportunity. Read More...

Kintore Rotarian Jim Thomson has been working with members of Friends of St Andrews to organise a fundraiser and a sponsored Sunday Stroll involving Rotarians and staff, pupils and supporters of the School was held through Kintore Quarry on 8 May.

On April 1, last year, Grampian Police introduced a new community focussed policing model that provides dedicated Local Policing Teams (LPTs) to each of the 24 local policing areas across the three territorial divisions.

The latest issue of Kintore Konnect is now available for you to read online. For the third issue, dated March 2011, Kintore Konnect looks ahead to the annual Kintore Summer Festival which takes place this year on the weekend of May 20-22.

There was no sign of apathy today (Saturday, February 12) at the Kintore Masterplan Public Exhibition in Kintore Public Hall. On show were plans by the Kintore Consortium to develop “Kintore East” with between 1,000 and 1,200 additional houses, a public park, sports fields, commercial developments and land for new schools.

Why on earth does it take so long for anything to happen in this country? The re-opening of a rail station in Kintore has been on the cards for ten years and more. It featured in the NESTRANS plans with an opening date of 2009. Now, as we embark on 2011 it seems further away than ever.

We won’t tempt fate by suggesting that we have seen the last of it, but those who have endured November and December in – not just Kintore, but the whole of the UK – know that it has been a very severe winter.

Kintore School is organising its traditional Christmas post to deliver your cards to addresses in KIntore. They will deliver your Christmas Cards around the village for 15p per card from December 7 to 19.

A couple of times in the winters after we arrived in Kintore, some kind soul took a snowplough up the road to our house. Despite our best efforts, we never could find out who it was who did it, so we could thank them. But it was typical of the kind-hearted community we live in. So, during the current freeze, let’s continue our support for others.

Following a report by the BBC which showed that parts of the Aberdeenshire had some of the lowest broadband speeds in the UK, North East Conservative MSP Nanette Milne has urged the UK Government to include Aberdeenshire as a pilot area for broadband improvements.

Malcolm Bruce, the Liberal Democrat MP for Gordon, retained his seat last night, although his majority was cut to 6,748. In second place for the constituency, that includes Kintore, was Richard Thomson of the Scottish National Party. Read More...

Two cafés in Kintore are due to re-open this month. Kintore Café on Northern Road has a sign in the window saying “opening April”, while we have just had notice that the cafe in Moar’s furniture shop is re-opening on April 6. Read More...

Kelly Wood writes: “I have lived in Kintore all my life and am now a 6th year student at Kemnay Academy (aged 17) I have just been given a great opportunity to go to India for 12 months voluntary work with project trust to teach English. Read More...

During the past 2 weeks, an unprecedented and devastating series of earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons have hit areas around the Pacific, leaving thousands without shelter and entire communities in need of help.

The long running dispute between some Hall Forest residents and landscaping company Greenbelt took a more serious turn when the land maintenance company issued “red letter” warnings on July 20, 2009, referring to the use of debt collectors.

The programme for the Kintore Summer Festival has just been announced. Starting with events on June 11 and ending with the Duck Race on June 14, the main events are in The Square in the centre of Kintore on Saturday, June 13 from 11 am to 4 pm.

The Kintore Summer Festival kicks off with a Quiz Night in the Kintore Public Hall on Friday, June 12, starting at 7.30 pm. Teams of foour are invited and the entry is £12, with all proceeds going to the fundraising effort of the Kintore Fundraising Team.

The shock and horror surrounding the helicopter crash yesterday has affected everyone in Aberdeen City and Shire. But, the tragedy has had come even close to home, with the sad announcement that one of the victims was from Kintore. Read More...

After more than 150 years the paper making industry in Garioch has come to a stop. If you looked north from Kintore today, there was no telltale steam plume to tell you the direction of the wind. Nothing. Read More...

Dr Nanette Milne, Conservative MSP for the North East has invited interested parties from Kintore to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh for a meeting with Transport Minister, Stuart Stevenson MSP to discuss the possible reopening of Kintore Station. Read More...

The news of International Paper’s decision to close Inverurie paper mill, at Port Elphinstone just a few miles from Kintore, may not be unexpected, but the actual announcement is still a heavy blow for the local economy with a loss of 371 jobs.

The Inverurie Paper Mill is facing possible closure after the announcement of a three-month consultation by owners International Paper of Memphis, Tennessee. The company say the business is unprofitable and not financially viable Read More...

North-east Conservative MSP Nanette Milne has written to the First Minister (and local consituency MSP) Alex Salmond to ask him to re-affirm his commitment to a new rail station for Kintore. Read More...

A planning application has been submitted for 30 houses on woodland and rough pasture at Gauch-hill, Kintore. The application is in the name of the Badentoy Trust, based at Midmill, Kintore. Read More...

As you are aware Kintore has expanded at an astonishing rate. The recent Capacity Study shows another potentially massive increase in housing development in Kintore over the next few years resulting in Read More...

Kintore Community Learning have a New Stained Glass class on Tuesday mornings starting on the February 26. Class times are 9.30am - 11.30am. This class will run for four weeks at a cost of £24.40 or £13.60 concession, materials available to purchase from class Tutor Janet Newberry. Beginners welcome. Read More...